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Conference 2015
Social Science Baha announces The Fourth Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal and the Himalaya being organised in partnership with Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies, Britain-Nepal Academic Council & Centre for Himalayan Studies-CNRS.
The conference will be held in Kathmandu from 22 to 24 July, 2015.
Panel A1 9 – 10:30 am
Opening Remarks
Basanta Thapa, Vice-Chair, SSB
Gerard Toffin, CNRS
Dukha at Home and Abroad: Nepali Transnational Labour Migration
Chair
Gerard Toffin, Distinguished Emeritus Director of Research, CNRS, Paris
Jeevan Raj Sharma
Lecturer in South Asia and International Development, University of Edinburgh
Anna Stirr
Assistant Professor of Asian Studies, University of Hawaii-Manoa
Break 10:30 – 11:00 am
Panel A2 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
Youth in New Nepal
Chair
Mallika Shakya, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, South Asian University, New Delhi
Aidan Seale-Feldman
PhD Candidate, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Ravindra Palliyaguruge
Lecturer, Political Science, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences and Languages, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
Heather Hindman
Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin
Lunch 12:30 – 1:30 pm
Panel A3 1:30 – 3:00 pm
Climate Change and Food Security
Chair
Heather Hindman, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin
Tara Nath Pande
Advisor, Women and Environmental Development Organization (PWEDO)
Floriane Clement
Researcher, Institutional and Policy Analysis, International Water Management Institute (IWMI-Nepal), Kathmandu
Man Khattri
PhD Scholar at Tribhuvan University
Break 3 – 3:30 pm
Panel A4 3.30 – 5.00 PM
Water Security, Ecosystem Services and Livelihoods in the Himalayas
Chair
Dinesh Paudel, South Asia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS) Nepal and Appalachian State University
Devendra Chauhan, Vishal Singh, Anvita Pandey & Rajesh Thadani
Centre for Ecology, Development and Research (CEDAR), India
Ngamindra Dahal
Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS), Nepal
Kamal Devkota, Hemant Ojha & Kaustuv Raj Neupane
Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS), Nepal
Bhaskar Vira & Eszter Kovacs
University of Cambridge
Chetan Agarwal
Centre for Ecology, Development and Research (CEDAR), India
Tikeshwari Joshi & Kaustuv R. Neupane
Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS), Nepal
Break 5 – 5:30 pm
Keynote Address 5:30 pm
Moderator
Kanak Mani Dixit, Ex-Com member, Social Science Baha, and Founding Editor, Himal Southasian
Tanka Subba
Vice-Chancellor, Sikkim University
Panel B1 9 – 10:30 am
Opening Remarks
David Gellner, Chair, BNAC
Heather Hindman, Incoming President, ANHS
Politics and Indigeneity
Chair
David Gellner, Professor of Social Anthropology, School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford
Prem Chalaune
Lecturer, Central Department of Sociology/Anthropology, Tribhuvan University
Jailab Rai
Lecturer (Anthropology), Central Department of Sociology Anthropology, Tribhuvan University
Break 10:30 – 11:00 am
Panel B2 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
Religion, Secularism and the Nepali State
Chair
Chiara Letizia, Professor of South Asian Religions, University of Québec
Dannah Dennis
PhD Candidate in Anthropology, University of Virginia
Ram Tiwari
Master of Law, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Luke Wagner
Department of Sociology, Yale University, USA
Lunch 12:30 – 1:30 pm
Panel B3 1:30 – 3:00 pm
Situated Bodies in Masculinized Power: Analyzing Women’s Struggles for Citizenship, Education and Bodily Integrity in Nepal
Chair
Pratyoush Onta, Director of Research, Martin Chautari
Surabhi Pudasaini
Founder, Galli Galli
Lokranjan Parajuli
Program Coordinator, Democracy and Governance Research Unit, and Editor, Publication Program, Martin Chautari, Kathmandu
Seira Tamang
Director of Research, Martin Chautari, Kathmandu
Break 3 – 3:30 pm
Panel B4 3.30 – 5.00 PM
Emerging Political Dynamics in Nepal
Chair
Laurie A. Vasily, Executive Director, United States Education Foundation (USEF) Nepal
Richard Bownas
Assistant Professor, Political Science, University of Northern Colorado
Ratna Bishokarma
Sociology student, Tribhuvan University
Mahendra Lawoti
Professor, Department of Political Science, Western Michigan University
Break 5 – 5:30 pm
Panel A5 9 – 10:30 am
Nepal in Transformation: Changing Women’s Roles and Responsibilities
Chair
Meena Poudel, Policy and Programme Advisor, International Organisation for Migration (IOM)
Meena Acharya
Team Leader, UN Women research on progress of women in Nepal
Madhuri Rana Singh
Visiting Faculty, Department of Conflict Peace and Development Studies, Tribhuvan University
Binda Pandey
Deputy Member, ILO
Break 10:30 – 11:00 am
Panel A6 11:00 am – 12.30 pm
Cultural Investigations and Politics
Chair
Hari Sharma, Social Science Baha
Ramawatar Yadav
Former Vice Chancellor of Purbanchal University (2007-2011)
Gérard Toffin
Emeritus Research Professor, CNRS (France)
Anne Mocko
Association of Nepal and Himalayan Studies (ANHS); Committee for the Study of Religions of India (CSRI); American Academy of Religion (AAR)
Lunch 12:30 – 1:30 pm
Panel A7 1:30 – 3:00 pm
Investigating Technology-Society Links in Nepal: An Eclectic Proposition
Chair
Yogesh Raj, Martin Chautari
Birat Ghimire
Universal Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd.
Sambeg Panthi
Pokhara University
Nischal Regmi
Martin Chautari
Shailesh B. Pandey
Senior Researcher, Martin Chautari
Harsha Man Maharjan
Researcher, Media Research Unit, Martin Chautari
Break 3 – 3:30 pm
Panel A8 3:30 – 5:00 pm
Citizen and the State
Chair
Mahendra Lawoti, Professor of Political Science, Western Michigan University
Prapanna Maskey
Master’s Degree in Philosophy, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur
Khem Shreesh
Independent Researchers
Sanjay Sharma
Independent Researchers
Pawan Kumar Sen
Interdisciplinary Analysts, Patandhoka, Lalitpur
Break 5 – 5:30 pm
Public Panel Session 5:30 pm
1934 Earthquake Revisited: A View from the Archives
Panelists
Bhaskar Gautam, Martin Chautari
Mallika Shakya, South Asian University
Austin Lord, Cornell University
Jeevan Baniya, Social Science Baha
Moderator
David Gellner, University of Oxford
This panel discussion has been partially supported by The Asia Foundation
Panel B5 9 – 10:30 am
Societal Conflict and Post-Conflict Trends
Chair
Jeevan Raj Sharma, Lecturer in South Asia and International Development, University of Edinburgh
Prakash Bhattarai
PhD, Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Prabin Nanicha Shrestha
MA in Conflict, Peace and Development Studies, Tribhuvan University
Sandeep Basnyat
PhD student, Department of Tourism, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Break 10:30 – 11:00 am
Panel B6 11:00 am – 12.30 pm
Land and Politics in Nepal: Anthropological Investigations
Chair
Katharine Rankin, Professor of Geography, University of Toronto
Jacob Rinck
Yale University
Sujit Shrestha
Emory University
Amy Leigh Johnson
Yale University
Lunch 12:30 – 1:30 pm
Panel B7 1:30 – 3:00 pm
Identity Politics: Old and New
Chair
Sambriddhi Kharel, Social Science Baha
Shyam Krishna Shrestha
Consultant Country Coordinator, Terre des hommes Germany Southasia Program;
Anita Shrestha
PhD Scholar, Department of Sociology, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur
Krishna P. Adhikari
Research Fellow, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford
David Gellner
Chair, Britain-Nepal Academic Council
Break 3 – 3:30 pm
Panel B8 3:30 – 5:00 pm
Engaging with Higher Education Reforms in Nepal
Chair
Tanka Subba, Vice-Chancellor, Sikkim University
Pramod Bhatta
Martin Chautari
Devendra Uprety, Pratyoush Onta & Lokranjan Parajuli
Martin Chautari, Kathmandu
Ramesh Rai & Pratyoush Onta
Martin Chautari
Break 5 – 5:30 pm
Panel A9 9 – 10:30am
Politics and the Local
Chair
Dambar Chemjong, Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, Tribhuvan University
Raktim Patar
Assistant Professor of History, Gargaon College, Sivasagar, Assam
Tashi Tshering Ghale ‘Dolpo’
Social Science Baha
Sanjaya Mahato
PhD Fellow at Graduate School for Social Research (GSSR), Polish Academic of Sciences, Warsaw
Break 10:30am – 11:00 am
Panel A10 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
Home and Away
Chair
Bandita Sijapati, Research Director, Centre for the Study of Labour and Mobility, Social Science Baha
Assistant Professor in English, St. Joseph’s College, Darjeeling
Balram Uprety
Laxmi Dhungel
PhD candidate, Kathmandu University School of Arts
Andrew Nelson
Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, University of North Texas
Lunch 12:30pm – 1:30 pm
Panel A11 1:30 – 2:30 pm
Health and the Mind
Chair
Anne Mocko, Assistant Professor, Concordia College
Nawaraj Upadhaya
Emerald Project Coordinator, Transcultural Psychosocial Organization Nepal
Ashley K. Hagaman
PhD Candidate, Anthropology and Global Health, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, MPH
Uden Maharjan
Thammasat University, Thailand
Break 2:30 – 3:00pm
Panel B9 9 – 10:30am
Literature, Politics and Boundaries
Chair
Ramawatar Yadav, Former Vice-Chancellor, Purbanchal University
Ajapa Sharma
M.A Modern History, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Mallika Shakya
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, South Asian University, New Delhi
Catherine Warner
PhD, South Asian History, University of Washington, Seattle
Break 10:30am – 11:00 am
Panel B10 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
Modernity and Change in Nepali Society
Chair
Seira Tamang, Director of Research, Martin Chautari
Gita Neupane
PhD candidate in Sociology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaii
Shreemanjari Tamrakar
MPhil Student in Sociology, Tribhuvan University
Tracy Ghale
Research Associate, Social Science Baha
Sanjay Sharma
Independent Researcher
Sabin Ninglekhu
Member, Editorial Board, New Angle: NepalJournal of Social Science and Public Policy
Lunch 12:30pm – 1:30 pm
Panel B11 1:30 – 2:30 pm
Reflections from the Eastern Tarai
Chair
Pramod Bhatta, Director of Research, Martin Chautari
Miranda Weinberg
PhD Candidate, Educational Linguistics and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania
Madhu Giri
PhD in Anthropology, Tribhuvan University
Break 2:30 – 3:00pm
Panel B12 3 – 5:00 pm
Society in the High Himalaya
Chair
Rajendra Pradhan, Member, Social Science Baha, and Dean, Nepa School of Social Sciences and Humanities
Katsuo Nawa
Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo
Samuele Poletti
PhD candidate, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Edinburgh
Sonam Lama
Returning expert, Nepal Transportation and Development Research Centre, Centre for International Migration and Development (CIM), German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), Kathmandu
Public Session 5:30 pm
Moderator
Pratyoush Onta
Shamik Mishra & Deepak Aryal
Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya
This presentation was partially supported by The Asia Foundation